Going Gaga

"I remember I went home and I was with my dad, and he said, 'I don't understand, Bad Romance is out, you're all over the radio, everyone is talking about you and you don't have a pot to piss in.'

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"I said, 'Just let me do this, let me just put it on the stage because I think if I can do this I think I can get Arthur Fogel's attention."'

Fogel is the Live Nation mastermind who manages U2 and Madonna's tours.

The gamble paid off - Fogel was impressed with Gaga's efforts and signed on to manage her next tour, which raked in more than $US220 million ($246.06 million) and became one of the most profitable concert treks of all time.

"Everybody said it couldn't happen... Everybody said he was crazy," Gaga recalls, adding: "I remember he called me and he said, 'We wanna do this', and he got Live Nation to write me a $US40 million cheque.

"It changed my life and the life of my whole family."

Lady Gaga kicks off a new world tour on May 4. She will perform in Australia in August.